Blaze destroys veteran's home in Sydney’s north

Two Australian defence veterans have had a close call early this morning after they awoke to find their West Pennant Hills home alight.

David and Jan-Maree Ball were asleep when their son – awake studying for university exams – alerted them to the blaze, at around 1am.

The Balls and their twin sons managed to escape the fire, described by one neighbor as a “big eruption”, before firefighters were called.

“On arrival [firefighters] were concerned of the fire extending to the adjacent houses so the initial work was to stop that,” Fire and Rescue NSW spokesman Inspector Bob McGowan told 9NEWS.

While firefighters managed to get the blaze under control, they were ultimately unable to save the home. Police are still investigating its cause.

Ms Ball – an Order of Australia Medal recipient for her work sending quilts to deployed servicemen and women – today took to Facebook to explain her situation.

“Most of our house is gone, we may be able to salvage a few things but it is too early to tell at the moment,” she wrote in a post.

“We are in limbo and now begin the arduous process of putting our lives back together.”

It is understood the family had a fire alarm installed, but that it had failed to go off.

The fire, which occurs amid the Australian fire season, has prompted calls by Fire and Rescue NSW for Sydney residents to ensure their fire alarms are working.

“Check your smoke alarms, make sure they're working, because this is the fire season,” Insp McGowan said.